And the hits keep on coming! From WUWT we learn that the UN has smacked the EUnions botty over its renewable energy policy. Specifically, the programme “20% renewable energy by 2020” and the way it has been implemented.

In particular, the Committee opines that the EU did not ensure that the public had been provided with the necessary information within a transparent and fair framework, allowing sufficient time for citizens to become informed and to participate effectively in the decision process.

Says Pat Swords: “this is an important decision, because the EU’s renewable energy programme as it currently stands is now proceeding without ‘proper authority’. The public’s right to be informed and to participate in its development and implementation has been by-passed. A process will now be started to ensure that the Committee’s recommendations are addressed; if ultimately they are not, then UNECE has the option of requiring the EU to withdraw from the UN Convention on Human and Environmental Rights.”

The Aarhus Convention requires that public participation occur when all options are still open, not when policies are already set in stone. Furthermore, the authorities have to ensure and document that in the resulting decision, due account is taken of the outcome of public participation. In the case of the “20% programme” this has quite obviously not been the case.

Mark Duchamp, Executive Director of EPAW (European Platform against Windfarms) said it was already obvious that the European Commission was imposing an enormously costly and ineffective policy to EU Members States without properly investigating the pros and cons. “It is high time that Brussels be held accountable for the hundreds of billions that have been squandered without a reality check on policy effectiveness” says Mark. “To spend so much money, a positive has to be proven. – It hasn’t.”

And seeing as the Aarhus Convention is part of EU law, there is now a legal ruling that this law has not been complied with, opening the prospect of citizens seeking ‘damages made good’. Says Mr. Sword: “A can of worms has been opened”.